Method to provide ad hoc and password protected digital and voice networks

ABSTRACT

A method and system includes the ability for individuals to set up an ad hoc digital and voice network easily and rapidly to allow users to coordinate their activities by eliminating the need for pre-entry of data into a web or identifying others by name, phone numbers or email. This method is especially useful for police, fire fighters, military, first responders or other emergency situations for coordinating different organizations at the scene of a disaster to elevate conventional communication problems either up and down the chain of command or cross communication between different emergency units. The method and system provides that the users are only required to enter a specific Server IP address and an ad hoc event name, a password and perhaps the name of the particular unit.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/027,410 filed on Sep. 16, 2013, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/751,453 filed Jan. 28, 2013, nowU.S. Pat. No. 8,538,393 issued Sep. 17, 2013, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/761,533filed on Apr. 16, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,364,129 issued Jan. 29,2013, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/615,472 filed on Dec. 22, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,126,441issued on Feb. 28, 2012, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/308,648 filed Apr. 17, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No.7,630,724 issued on Dec. 8, 2009, which is a continuation-in-part ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/711,490, filed on Sep. 21, 2004, nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,031,728 issued on Apr. 18, 2006. All of the precedingapplications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

A communications method and system using a plurality of cellular phoneseach having an integrated Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and GlobalPositioning System (GPS) receiver for the management of two or morepeople through the use of a communications network. The method andsystem provide each user with an integrated handheldcellular/PDA/GPS/phone that has Advanced Communication Softwareapplication programs (hereinafter referred to as ACS) and databases usedin conjunction with a remote Server that enable a user to quicklyestablish a communication network of cell phone participants having acommon temporary ad hoc network using mobile wireless communicationdevices.

The invention includes a method and communication system to quickly setup and provide ad hoc, password protected, digital and voice networks toallow a group of people to be able to set up a network easily andrapidly, especially in an emergency situation.

2. Description of Related Art

The purpose of a communications system is to transmit digital messagesfrom a source, located at one point, to user destination(s), located atother point(s) some distance away. A communications system is generallycomprised of three basic elements: transmitter, information channel andreceiver. One form of communication in recent years is cellular phonetelephony. A network of cellular communication systems set up around anarea such as the United States allows multiple users to talk to eachother, either on individual calls or on group calls. Some cellular phoneservices enable a cellular phone to engage in conference calls with asmall number of users. Furthermore, cellular conference calls can beestablished through 800 number services. Cellular telephony also nowincludes systems that include GPS navigation that utilizes satellitenavigation. These devices thus unite cellular phone technology withnavigation information, computer information transmission and receipt ofdata.

The method and operation of communication devices used herein aredescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,031,728 which is hereby incorporated byreference and U.S. Pat. No. 7,630,724.

Military, first responder, and other public and private emergency groupsneed to be able to set up ad hoc digital and voice networks easily andrapidly. These private networks may be temporary or longer lasting innature. The users need to be able to rapidly coordinate their activitieseliminating the need for pre-entry of data into a web and or identifyingothers by name, phone numbers or email addresses so that all intendedparticipants that enter the agreed ad hoc network name and password areboth digitally and voice interconnected. When a user or users leave thenetwork, no data concerning the network participants need be retained.

Coordinating different organizations at the scene of a disaster presentsseveral problems as there are voice and digital data (text messages)communications that need to be constantly occurring up and down thechain of command. As an example, communications are required from apolice chief to a police captain to a police lieutenant to a policesergeant to a policeman and then back up the same chain of command.Digital data exchange of GPS data or other means provides the locationcomponent of the units. Digital chat, text messages, white boards andphoto video exchange provide extensive collaboration. However, during adisaster, other first responders such as fire departments must becomeengaged. While the fire department users may have voice and digital data(text messages) communications up and down their chain of command, theseindividuals do not have the ability to cross communicate necessarilywith police units without a substantial degree of immediatecoordination. The method and system in accordance with the presentinvention described herein discloses how digital communications alongwith Personal Computer (PC) and PDA devices can be used to quicklyestablish user specific password protected private ad hoc voice and datanetworks to enable both data and voice communications up and down theirchain of command and simultaneously with different, not pre-known,organizations responding to a disaster. The invention defines a methodof accomplishing this by providing all personnel that need tocommunicate with each other with a PC or PDA which are interconnected toa Server using cellular or other communications.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Applicant's communication system and method described herein is embodiedin the Advanced Communication Software (ACS) application programsdeveloped by applicant and installed in the integrated PDA/GPS cellphones used herein and remote Servers.

A plurality of Internet Protocol (IP) capable PDA/GPS devices eachhaving ACS application programs and databases provides a communicationnetwork in conjunction with a remote Server that provides the abilityto: a) establish an ad hoc network of devices so that the devices caneither broadcast to a group or selectively transmit to each of theother; each PDA/GPS phone starts by requesting access to the Server andidentifying a mutually agreed to network name and password and oncegranted, reports its GPS position and status; the Server then routes thedata to all signed on network participants so that each of the devicesexchange location, status and other information; (b) force the receivedinformation to the recipient's display and enable the recipient toacquire additional information by touching the display screen at aremote phone's location on the PDA display; (c) make calls to or senddata to remote phones by touching their display symbols and selectingthe appropriate soft switch; (d) layer a sufficient number of softswitches or buttons on the PDA display to perform the above functionswithout overlaying the map; and (e) allow a polling mode in each cellphone that permits a user to contact other cell phone users that have acommon interest or relationship with a password and identifier forcommunication and to establish quickly a temporary ad hoc networkespecially in an emergency.

A communication Server acts as a forwarder for IP communications betweenany combination of cell phone/PDA users and/or PC based users. Networkparticipant location, identity and status messages are sent to theServer by each user. Network participant entered tracks are also sent tothe Server. Because this network participant location and track data isof interest to all the network participants, the Server forwards thedata received from one participant to all other participants, causingtheir displays automatically, without any operator action, to displaythe received information, thus providing the information necessary forall network participants to know the identity, location and status ofall other network participants.

The Server also acts as a forwarder of data addressed from oneparticipant to one or more addressed participants, thus permitting thetransmission of free text, preformatted messages, photographs, video,Email and Uniform Resource Locator (URL) data from one networkparticipant to other selected network participants.

The above functions can also be accomplished using peer to peer WiFi,WiMax or other peer to peer communications. However, for use withcellular communications and to assure the level of security that cellphone companies require, a centralized static IP routable Server isused.

The IP Server also fills another role of being a database from whichdata can be requested by network participants (i.e. maps, satelliteimages, and the like) or can be pushed to network participants (i.e.symbology and soft switch changes, and the like). The Server is used toestablish an ad hoc network within certain groups using an ad hoc eventname and password.

This invention provides a method and a system establishing an ad hocpassword protected digital and voice network that can be temporarily setup or longer lasting in nature. The invention described herein allowsusers to rapidly coordinate their activities without having to pre-enterdata into a web or identify others by name, E mail addresses or phonenumbers. Essentially the users that establish the ad hoc and passwordprotected digital and voice networks are required to enter the Server'sIP address and an ad hoc event name and a password. In the case ofmilitary and first responders, the name of the user's unit may also beused. This action causes the specific PDA or PC of the user to commencereporting directly to the Server's IP address. Once the Server receivesthe initial IP message from the user's PDA or PC, the server cancommence to exchange data with the user's PDA or PC. The initial IPmessage may also contain additional data such as a license number and,if desired, a phone number manually entered or automatically acquired bythe ACS. The IP address of the PDA and PC unit sending the initial IPmessage is stored by the Server. The Server then responds with a messagenotifying the user that his PC/PDA is connected to the Server. The userPDA/PC then reports its GPS location and other status informationdirectly to the Server. This information is retained by the Server evenwhen there are no other devices initially communicating with the Server.When the other user's devices sign on to the Server with the same ad hocevent name and password, the Server software then recognizes all theusers and stores their IP addresses in the Server. Thus the Server hasall the users IP addresses stored and can pass location and statusinformation among the ad hoc network participants even though thenetwork participants have not entered other network participants' names,phone numbers or email addresses. Thus one of the purposes of theinvention is to allow an ad hoc network to be formed on a temporarybasis in a rapid manner.

When using the PTT feature, the ACS can enable the network participantto: 1. PTT with all that are in the ad hoc digital network, or 2. PTTwith select specific network participants, by touching their symbol(s)and then selecting PTT soft switch or 3. Specify a group of the networkparticipants by assigning their symbols or unit names to a list ofnetwork participants and then associating the list with a soft switchwhose function is to enable the operator to have PTT communications withall in the list.

Since only one person is transmitting on a PTT voice network at anygiven time, the receiving network participant's ACS can relate the PTTIP address to the IP address of the unit transmitting his identificationon the digital ad hoc network. This information can then be used by theother PTT networked participant's ACS to: 1. flash the transmittingunit's name on their PDA/PC screens or 2. if a photograph has beenattached to the ad hoc digital network symbol of the PTT transmittingperson, to flash that photograph on the receiving unit's PDA/PC display.

It is an object of this invention to enable each participant in thecommunication network to join other ad hoc network participants to forman ad hoc digital and voice network with other cell phone users rapidlyfor coordinating member activities.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparenthereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with particularreference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a front plan view of a cellular phone/PDA/GPS having atouch screen.

FIG. 2 shows the screen IP address entry menu.

FIG. 3 shows ad hoc net names and password screen entry name.

FIG. 4 shows a screen entry identifying user.

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of the network as users sign on to thenetwork.

FIG. 6 shows a flow chart that depicts how a group commander can commandnetworked PDAs/PCS and radios to load a Push To Talk (PTT) channel.

FIG. 7 shows a flow chart that depicts how networked radio units respondto receipt of the Push-to-Talk (PTT) Commanded Channel.

FIG. 8 shows a PDA screen geographical display that represents the areacovered by the network.

FIG. 9 shows a diagram that enables determining location, status, ViOP,PTT, and video communication between radios and cell phones.

FIG. 10 shows a diagram that describes enabling non RFID equipped PDAphones to receive RFID tag data.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

A method and communication system that joins a communications network ofparticipants using handheld cell phones having integrated PDA and GPScircuitry with ACS application programs that allow a participant havingan ACS equipped cell phone to provide an ad hoc and password protecteddigital and voice network.

A communication Server acts as a forwarder for IP communications betweenany combination of cell phone/PDA users and/or PC based user. Networkparticipant location, identity and status messages are sent to theServer by each user. Network participant entered tracks are also sent tothe Server. Because this data is of interest to all the networkparticipants, the Server forwards the data received from one participantto all other participants, thus providing the information necessary forall network participants to know the identity, location and status ofall other network participants.

The Server allows the set up of the ad hoc network with an ad hoc eventname and a password.

The Server also acts as a forwarder of data addressed from oneparticipant to one or more addressed participants, thus permitting thetransmission of free text, preformatted messages, photographs, video,email and URL data from one network participant to other selectednetwork participants.

Referring now to the drawings and, in particular, to FIG. 1, a smallhandheld cellular phone 10 is shown that includes a PDA and a GPScommunications device integrated in housing 12 that includes an on/offpower switch 19, a microphone 38, and a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)display 16 that is also a touch screen system. The small area 16 a isthe navigation bar that depicts the telephone, GPS and other status dataand the active software. Each cell phone includes a Central ProcessingUnit (CPU) and databases that store information useful in thecommunication network. The CPU also includes a symbol generator forcreating touch screen display symbols discussed herein. With the touchscreen 16, the screen symbols are entered through GPS inputs or by theoperator using a stylus 14 (or operator finger) by manipulativelydirecting the stylus 14 to literally touch display 16. The soft switches16 d displayed on the display 16 are likewise activated by using astylus 14 and physically and manipulatively directing the stylus toliterally touch display 16. The display x, y coordinates of the touchedpoint are known by a CPU in the PDA section of the communication systemin housing 12 that can coordinate various information contained in thePDA relative to the x, y coordinate position on the display 16. Insidehousing 12 is contained the conventional cellular phone elementsincluding a modem, a CPU for use with a PDA and associated circuitryconnected to speaker 24 and microphone 38. A GPS navigational receiverthat receives signals from satellites that can determine the latitudeand longitude of the cellular phone housing 12 can be internal orexternal to the housing 12. Conventional PDA/cellular phones arecurrently on sale and sold as a unit (or with an external connected GPS)that can be used for cellular telephone calls and sending cellular ShortMessage Service (SMS) and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) TCP/IP orother messages using the PDA's display 16 and computer CPU. The GPSsystem including a receiver in housing 12 is capable of determining thelatitude and longitude and through SMS, TCP/IP, WiFi or other digitalmessaging software, to also transmit this latitude and longitudeinformation of housing 12 to other cellular phones in the communicationnetwork via cellular communications, WiFi or radio. The device 10includes a pair of cellular phone hardware activating buttons 20 to turnthe cellular phone on and 22 to turn the cellular phone off. Navigationpad actuator 18 is similar to a joy or force stick in that the actuator18 manually provides movement commands that can be used by the PDA'ssoftware to move a cursor on display 16. Switches 26 and 28 are designedto quickly select an operator specified network software program.Speaker 24 and microphone 38 are used for audio messages. Switch 19 atthe top left of device 10 is the power on and power off switch for theentire device.

The heart of the invention lies in the applicant's ACS applicationprograms provided in the device. The ACS programs are activated byclicking on an icon on the display to turn the ACS programs on or off.Mounted within housing 12 as part of the PDA is the display 16 and theCPU. The internal CPU includes databases and software applicationprograms that provide for a geographical map and georeferenced entitiesthat are shown as display portion 16 b that includes as part of thedisplay various areas of interest in the particular local map section.

When looking at display 16, the software switches (soft switches) whichappear at the very bottom of the display 16 d are used to control bytouch many of the software driven functions of the cellular phone andPDA. The soft switches are activated through the operator's use of thenavigation pad 18, or a small track ball, force stick or similarhardware display cursor pointing device. Alternatively, the operator maychoose to activate the software switches by touching the screen with astylus 14 (or finger) at the switches' 16 d locations. When some of thesoftware switches are activated, different software switches appear. Thebar display 16 d shows the software switches “ZM IN (zoom in),” “ZM OT(zoom out),” “CENT (center)” and “GRAB (pan/grab)” at the bottom of thescreen. These software switches enable the operator to perform thesefunctions. The “SWITH (switch)” software switch at the lower rightcauses a matrix of layered software switches (soft switches) to appearabove the bottom row of switches. Through use of the software switches,the operator can also manipulate the geographical map 16 b or chartdisplay. When looking at FIG. 1, display symbols depicting permanentgeographical locations and buildings are shown. For example, the policestation is shown and, when the symbol is touched by the stylus orfinger, the latitude and longitude of the symbol's location, as shown indisplay section 16 c, is displayed at the bottom left of the screen. Thebottom right side of display 16 c is a multifunction inset area that cancontain a variety of information including: a) a list of thecommunication link participants; b) a list of received messages; c) amap, aerial photograph or satellite image with an indication of the zoomand offset location of the main map display, which is indicated by asquare that depicts the area actually displayed in the main geographicalscreen 16 b; d) applicable status information; and e) a list of thecommunication net participants. Each participant user would have adevice 10 shown in FIG. 1.

Also shown on the display screen 16, specifically the geographicaldisplay 16 b, is a pair of different looking symbols 30 and 34, a smalltriangle and a small square, which are not labeled. These symbols 30 and34 can represent communication net participants having cellular phonesin the displayed geographical area that are part of the overall cellularphone communications net, each participant having the same device 10used. The latitude and longitude of symbol 30 is associated within adatabase with a specific cell phone number and, if available, its IPaddress and email address. The screen display 16 b, which is a touchscreen, provides x and y coordinates of the screen 16 b to the CPU'ssoftware from a map in a geographical database. The software has analgorithm that relates the x and y coordinates to latitude and longitudeand can access a communications net participant's symbol or a fixed ormovable entity's symbol as being the one closest to that point.

In order to initiate a telephone call to the cellular phone user(communication net participant) represented by symbol (triangle) 30 at aspecific latitude and longitude display on chart 16 b, the operatortouches the triangle 30 symbol with the stylus 14. The user then touchesa “call” software switch from a matrix of displayed soft switches thatwould overlay the display area 16 c. Immediately, the cellular phonewill initiate a cellular telephone call to the cellular phone user atthe geographical location shown that represents symbol 30. A secondcellular phone user (communication net participant) is represented bysymbol 34 which is a small square (but could be any shape or icon) torepresent an individual cellular phone device in the display area. Thering 32 around symbol 30 indicates that the symbol 30 has been touchedand that a telephone call can be initiated by touching the soft switchthat says “call.” When this is done, the telephone call is initiated.Other types of symbolic elements on the display 16 can indicate that acellular phone call is in effect. Additionally, the operator can touchboth symbol 34 and symbol 30 and can activate a conference call betweenthe two cellular phones and users represented by symbols 30 and 34.Again, a symbolic ring around symbol 34 indicates that a call has beeninitiated.

Equally important, a user can call the police station, or any otherspecific geographical facility displayed on the map including:buildings, locations of people, vehicles, facilities, restaurants, orthe like, whose cellular phone numbers and, if available, Emailaddresses, IP addresses and their URLs (previously stored in thedatabase) by touching a specific facility location on the map displayusing the stylus 14 and then touching the cellular phone call switch. Asan example, the operator can touch and point to call a restaurant usinga soft switch by touching the restaurant location with a stylus and thentouching the call soft switch. The cellular phone will then call therestaurant. Thus, using the present invention, each participant cantouch and point to call to one or more other net participantssymbolically displayed on the map, each of whom has a device as shown inFIG. 1, and can also point to call facilities that had been previouslystored in the phone's database. Furthermore, this symbol hooking andsoft switch technique can be used to go to a fixed facility's website orto automatically enter the fixed facility's email address in an email.

Each cellular phone/PDA/GPS user device is identified on the map displayof the other network participant user's phone devices by a displaysymbol that is generated on each user phone display to indicate eachuser's own location and identity. Each symbol is placed at the correctgeographical location on the user display and is correlated with the mapon the display and is transmitted and automatically displayed on theother network participant's PC and PDA devices. The operator of eachcellular phone/PDA/GPS device may also enter one or more other fixedentities (buildings, facilities, restaurants, police stations, etc.) andgeo-referenced events such as fires, accidents, etc., into its database.This information can be likewise transmitted to all the otherparticipants on the communications net and automatically displayed. Themap, fixed entities, events and cellular phone/PDA/GPS devicecommunication net participants' latitude and longitude information isrelated to the “x” and “y” location on the touch screen display map by amathematical correlation algorithm.

When the cellular phone/PDA/GPS device user uses a stylus or finger totouch one or more of the symbols or a location displayed on the cellularphone map display, the system's software causes the status and latitudeand longitude information concerning that symbol or location to bedisplayed. In order to hook a symbol or “track” such as another netparticipant which represents an entity on the geo-referenced mapdisplay, or a fixed geographical entity such as a restaurant, policestation or a new entity observed by a cell phone user which is discussedbelow, the operator touches at or near the location of a geo-referencedsymbol appearing on the cellular phone/PDA display that represents aspecific track or specific participant or other entity. The hookapplication software determines that the stylus (or finger) is pointedclose to or at the location of the symbol and puts a circle, square orother indication around the symbol indicating that amplificationinformation concerning the symbol is to be displayed. The operator canhook entered tracks or his own track symbol and add data or change dataassociated with the indicated symbol. The hook application code thensends a message to the database application code to store the facilityor entity's updated data. The display application code retrieves theprimary data and amplification data concerning the symbol or entity fromthe database and displays the information at the correct screenlocation. The operator can then read the amplification data that relatesto that specific symbol at the specific location. The cell phoneoperator can also select soft switches on the touch screen display tochange the primary data and amplification data. Furthermore, theoperator can use a similar method of hooking and selecting to activateparticular soft switches to take other actions which could include:making cellular phone calls, conference calls, 800 number calls; sendinga free text message, operator selected preformatted messages,photographs or videos to the hooked symbol; or to drop an enteredsymbol.

Each known net participant has a cellular phone number, IP address and,if available, Email address that is stored in each participant's devicedatabase.

To use the communication system, a user starts the PDA/cellular phonedevice system by turning on the cell phone power and selecting the cellphone and network software which causes: a) the cellular phone to beactivated (if it has not already been activated); b) the GPS interfacereceiver to be established; c) a map of the geographic area where theoperator is located and operator's own unit symbol to appear at thecorrect latitude and longitude on the map on the display; d) thelocations of fixed facilities such as restaurants, hotels, firedepartments, police stations, and military barracks, that are part ofthe database to appear as symbols on the map; e) the device selecteditem read out area which provides amplification information for thecommunications net participants or the entity that has been hooked (onthe display screen) to appear on the display; f) an insert area thatcontains various data including: the list of net participants, a list ofmessages to be read, an indication of what portion of the map is beingdisplayed in major map area and other information to appear on thedisplay; and g) a row of primary software created “soft switches” thatare always present on the display to appear.

For point to call network units and fixed facilities, the applicationcode detects the x, y display screen location of the symbol that isdesignated by the user's stylus and translates the x, y coordinates tolatitude and longitude and then: (1) searches the database to find thesymbol at that location, (2) places a “hook” indicator (a circle, squareor other shape) around the symbol, (3) displays any amplifying data and(4) obtains the symbol's associated phone number (or, for Voice over IP(VoIP) an IP address) from the database. Upon receiving a “call”designation from the soft switch, the operator's device's ACS causes theappropriate phone number or IP address to be called. Upon receiving anindication that the phone number is being called, the application codeplaces a box around the symbol (color, dashed or the like). When thecall is connected, the box changes to indicate that the connection ismade. When the other party hangs up, the box disappears.

As each of the cell phone participants reports its identity, locationand status to the other participants' devices, the received data isautomatically geo-referenced and filed in their databases that areaccessible by identity and by location. This data is then displayed oneach cell phone display. When a request for data is received by touchingthe display screen, a location search is made by the ACS and a symbolmodifier (circle, square, etc.) is generated around the symbol closestto the x, y position of the stylus. When the application code receives asoft switch command to place a phone call or send data, the softwareuses the phone number (or IP address) associated with the unit to placethe call or to send data.

If a cell phone device receives a digital message that a call is beingreceived, the receiving cell phone's ACS application code places a boxor similar object around the transmitter symbol indicating who the callis from. When the call is answered, the application software changes thevisual characteristics of the box. In a similar manner, when a phonereceives a digital text message, photograph or video, a box appearsaround the transmitter's symbol indicating the transmitter of themessage. The point to call network devices are network participants andeach one has a PC/PDA device with the same software for use as a totalparticipant network. Other situations for calling facilities that arenot network participants are also described below.

Thus, a user is capable of initiating a cellular phone call by touchonly and initiating conference calls by touching the geo-referenced mapsymbols. Furthermore, by using a similar symbol touching technique, acellular phone can send user selected messages to cause a remotecellular phone to display and optionally announce emergency and othermessages and to optionally elicit a response from the remote cellularphone.

All of the network participants have the same communication cellphone/PDA/GPS device described herein. The method and system include theability of a specific user to provide polling in which other cellularphones, using SMS, internet or WiFi, report periodically based oncriteria such as time, speed, distance traveled, or a combination oftime, speed and distance traveled. A user can manually poll any or allother cell phone devices that are used by all of the participants in thecommunication network having the same devices. The receiving cellularphone application code responds to the polling command with thereceiving cellular phone's location and status which could includebattery level, GPS status, signal strength and entered track data.Optionally, the phone operators can set their phones to reportautomatically, based on time or distance traveled intervals or anothercriterion.

The soft switch application software causes a visual display of a matrixsuch as five across by six up (or another matrix) in which switch namesare placed on the cellular/PDA display. The soft switch networkapplication software knows the touch screen location of each of theswitches in the matrix and the software routines that will be activatedupon touching the switch.

The bottom row of soft switches displayed on the touch screen remainsvisually fixed. These switches concern the functions that are the mostoften used. One of the switches causes a matrix of other soft switchesto appear above the visually fixed soft switches. These switches arefunction soft switches, the activation of any one of which causes adifferent matrix of soft switches to appear, which are known as theaction soft switches. When the action soft switches appear, the functionsoft switch, which caused the action soft switches to appear, itselfappears as a label in the lower left (or some other standard location)indicating to the operator the function soft switch that has beenselected. When the operator selects an action soft switch, theappropriate application software to accomplish the action is activated.

Upon receiving a soft switch activation message, the ACS accesses theappropriate task execution software which accomplishes the requiredtasks including: entry of track data, entry of track amplification data,transmission of alpha/numeric messages, photographs, videos, display ofmessages to be read, selection of map types, placing voice calls,placing conference calls and 800 conference calls, presenting differentpotential operator selections, control of the display actions, pollingnetwork participants, establishing nets of participants (groups) so thatcommunications with all in the group can be accomplished with a singlesoft switch action, and dropping a previously entered track. Byproviding a matrix and layers of soft switches which are easilymanipulated by a stylus, each cell phone device in the communicationnetwork is extremely efficient in accessing and coordinating theappropriate application program for the device to perform.

Users such as emergency groups, police, fire personal, military, firstresponders and other groups need to be able to set up ad hoc digital andvoice networks easily and rapidly. The users need to be able to rapidlycoordinate activities eliminating the need for pre-entry data asdiscussed above. Users are required to enter the Servers' IP address andan ad hoc event name, a password and, for first responders and military,the names of their units. This will normally be controlled by the PDA/PCuser's position in the chain of command. For others it can be anyselected name and, if desired, password.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the PDA/PC screen displays an IP address entrymenu. The user inserts the Server's IP address. Thus, as shown in FIG.2, the user has entered in the cell phone/PDA the Server IP address andport number along with the GPS port listing and other information. Oncethat information is entered, referring now to FIG. 3, the user nowenters the ad hoc event network name which is shown in this example as“Katrina” along with a password. Referring now to FIG. 4, the user thenenters the user name or a unit name. FIG. 4 shows the entered user nameand a phone number. The phone number may be automatically entered by theACS or manually entered. The phone number is not required unless usingthe phone system (not VoIP) to make calls. These are the initial usersteps required to establish an ad hoc network or to join onto anexisting ad hoc network.

Referring now to FIG. 5, these actions cause the user cell phone/PDA orPC to commence reporting to the Server. Upon receipt of the initialmessage from the user's PDA/PC, which may also contain additional datasuch as a license number, the Server stores the IP address of the user'sPDA/PC unit and responds with a message notifying the user that he orshe is connected to the Server. The PDA/PC then automatically commencesto report its GPS derived location and other status information to theServer. Since there are no other devices initially communicating withthe Server, the Server just retains the information. When other devicessign on to the Server with the same ad hoc event name and password, theServer's software recognizes this and stores their IP addresses. Sincethe Server has all parties' IP addresses, the server is able to passlocation and status information automatically between the ad hoc networkparticipants. This can occur even though the ad hoc network participantshave not entered other network participants names, telephone numbers orEmail addresses and do not have the other network participants' IPaddresses, phone numbers or Email addresses. Once this connection ismade, data types that are entered on one display that is of interest toall is sent from the server to all others in the network. Such datatypes include track location and track amplification data,geo-referenced white boards, and chat.

When the PDA/PC user wants to address particular data (a text message,photograph, video clip, voice recording, white board, or chat), the userenters the name of the other ad hoc network participant by eitherentering a name or touching his or her symbol. Since the Server knowsthe IP address of the name or symbol, the Server forwards the dataappropriately to that network participant. When a unit signs off thenetwork, it transmits a message to the Server which then transmits amessage to all the network participants to drop the unit and itsassociated tracks. If a unit loses communications for a variable timeperiod, the unit's data is flushed from each of the recipient networkparticipants systems according to a variable time period. After aseparate variable time period, the Server also flushes the non-reportingunits data.

As can be seen in FIG. 6, provisions have been made for the PDA/PC toreport on multiple networks thus allowing both digital communications upand down the chain of command and with adjacent units that have entereda common ad hoc network name and password.

Typically military and First Responder units use Push-to-Talk (PTT)communications. Units in an organization's chain of command typicallyhave instituted a method to establish voice communications betweenthemselves for they know each other's cellular phone numbers, PTTcellular group identifiers and radio frequencies or channel numbers.However, in a disaster there are many different units (fire, police,EMS, Military, and the like) involved all of whom need to establishvoice communications between each other. The issue then becomes how tocoordinate these PTT voice communications with the ad hoc digitalcommunications so that all on the digital data network automaticallyalso have PTT voice communications with each other. If the PCs and PDAsin a group have manually entered their phone numbers, or the ACS hasautomatically entered their phone numbers, and sent their phone numbersas part of their initial message to the Server, this data is then sentby the Server to all others in the network. Upon receiving the phonenumber data, the recipients' ACS loads the cell phones numbers intotheir databases creating a phone number PTT group common with thedigital IP network group.

The issue when using radios, however, is different. PTT radiocoordination between multiple people is achieved by using a common radiofrequency “Channel”.

Furthermore, it is desirable to enable it so that, when new networkparticipants join the digital network, they are automatically includedin the voice network and, when they leave the digital network, they areautomatically dropped from the digital network.

As can be seen in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, a network participant currently canestablish a new ad hoc digital network or join an existing ad hocdigital network by entering the ad hoc network name and password intohis PDA/PC. To enable voice coordination with all that are a part of thead hoc digital network, the user then enters (if user is authorized todo so) a Channel or Group number that the user is commanding all in thead hoc network to establish as their PTT voice net. As seen in FIG. 6,the operator has commanded all to shift to Radio Channel or to aspecific PTT cellular or radio channel; i.e. Group 7.

This action causes the PTT Channel, or PTT Group 7, to be sent to theother PDA/PC users in the ad hoc password protected network through theServer.

As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the Group leader enters the Katrina Firead hoc network and issues a command which is sent to the Server to causethe PDAs/PCs that are in the Katrina Fire Group to automatically shifttheir Radio or cellular device to Channel 7. Each PDA cell phone canconnect to the user's Radio for control with a USB cable, or WiFi,Bluetooth, or Near Field Communications (NFC) signals or othercommunications that are contained in the PDA/PC cellular device. Thisenables the Radios to shift to a common channel. This action is receivedby the Server which then sends the “Shift to Channel 7 Command” to allnetwork participants in the Katrina Fire ad hoc network. When thePDA/PC/Tablet Katrina Fire network participant's software receives thecommand to shift its Radio Channel PPT to Group 7, this action causesthe PDA's ACS to establish a new Channel 7 group (or to override an oldChannel 7 group) that consists of all on the digital ad hoc network. ThePC and PDAs then send their radios' digital interfaces messages to shiftto Channel 7 or to the frequency associated with Channel 7. Thedigitally networked PC's and PDA's ACS devices then send a message toall on the digital network that they have shifted to Channel 7 (or tothe appropriate frequency) and also further send the Group Leader'sidentifier and Command to shift to Channel 7 so that the ACS' devicesassociated with new users joining the digital network will automaticallydigitally set their radios to Channel 7 or the appropriate frequency.

As shown in FIG. 7, each time one of the network participants reports tothe Katrina Fire network its Name, Position and Status, it now alsoreports that it is in PTT Channel 7 enabling the PTT group to grows insize until it encompasses all in the ad hoc password protected digitalnetwork. When units drop out of the Common Interest Network or losecommunications because they are no longer active or they are out ofrange, their PTT Channel data is likewise dropped as they dropped out ofthe digital because their reports have not been received for a set, butadjustable, time period. If a unit rejoins the network, their PTT Nameand Phone number is again automatically added to the Katrina FireInterest Group as they are accepted by the Server into the Katrina FireInterest digital Group.

When using the PTT feature, the ACS can enable the network participantto: 1. PTT with all that are in the ad hoc digital network, or 2. PTTwith select specific network participants, by touching their symbol(s)and then selecting PTT soft switch or 3. Specify a group of the networkparticipants by assigning their symbol or unit name to a list of networkparticipants and then associating the list with a soft switch whosefunction is to enable the operator to have PTT communications with allin the list.

Since only one person is transmitting on a PTT voice network at anygiven time, the receiving network participant's ACS can relate the PTTIP address to the IP address of the unit transmitting his identificationon the digital ad hoc network. This information can then be used by theother PTT networked participant's ACS to: 1. flash the transmittingunit's name on their PDA/PC screens or 2. if a photograph has beenattached to the ad hoc digital network symbol of the PTT transmittingperson, to flash that photograph on the receiving unit's PDA/PC display.

Referring now to FIG. 8, for some Emergency events, and in particularmilitary operations, it is desirable to further define ad hoc networksso that the networks encompass only a certain geographical area definedby boundary lines on a map. To accomplish this, an enhancement to the adhoc digital and voice PTT password protected network is provided. As anexample, once the Katrina Fire digital and PTT network is established,the ad hoc network can be further refined by the Group Leader defining amap area that limits the participating group to only those users withina geographically defined area by the Group Leader, creating on hisPC/PDA display a box that defines a geographic area on a map.

As shown in FIG. 8, the Latitude/Longitude points that define therectangle of the boundary area are sent from the Group Leader's deviceto the Server which relays the data to the other participating unitPC/PDA devices in the Katrina Fire network. When the participating unitdevices receive the Latitude/Longitude points, their software computeswhether their PC/PDA unit is inside or outside a boundary area. If theusers are inside the defined area, the users retain but disregard theLatitude/Longitude data and continue to report on the digital passwordprotected network and to use the commanded PTT channel/frequency.However, if the users are outside the area, the users send a “drop memessage” to the Katrina Fire PDA/PC digital network Server and ceasereporting on the network. When Katrina Fire network PDA/PC user unitsleave the defined area or lose communications for a specified, butadjustable, time period, the Server drops the unit from the network andinforms all network users that the unit is dropped from the digitalnetwork and from voice PTT Channel 7 which causes all others on thenetwork to drop them. When Katrina Fire networked PDA/PC user unitsre-enter the area, the unit's ACS detects the fact and commencesreporting as it receives reports from other network participants it willreceive the current PTT channel or frequency.

In disasters, battery life is essential as there may not be extrabatteries available or a power available to recharge the battery. It istherefore essential to lessen battery utilization. The normal method bywhich this is accomplished is to not use software that keeps the displayon, uses the GPS or transmits on the communications. However,deactivating any one of these processes produces a problem withproviding location data to all on the network.

With location sharing there are essentially two times when the locationinformation is essential: a) Where the user wants all to know his/herlocation and status and the location and status of others and b) Whenthe commander wants to know the location and status of all or of aparticular unit.

When the user wants others to know the user location and status, theuser can simply turn on location reporting software which then turns onthe display, the GPS and the communications reporting software causingthe reporting of the user location to the ad hoc password protecteddigital network. However, when the commander or someone else wants toknow the location and status of the PDA/PC unit that is conservingbattery usage by having user display, GPS and communicationstransmission turned on, the commander has no method to accomplish this.

This problem is overcome by enabling the commander to transmit a “turnon” IP message to the battery conserving(s) unit(s) by addressing themessage to the ad hoc network Server which then sends an SMS message tothe addressed phone. The SMS message will be received as long as thephone is powered on, as SMS is integrated with the cell phone's voicecommunications. The Server could also send a turn on IP message tonetworked radios, which will then cause the radio's computer to send adigital message to the receiving PC/PDA to activate the user display andlocation and status reporting software.

Referring now to FIG. 9, the diagram illustrates the enabling oflocation, status, VoIP, PTT, and video communications between radios andcell phones. The server maintains a temporary retention of names and IPaddresses and sends data between all with the same ad hoc name unlessaddressed to a specific IP address. This requires that there is a radiowith digital capabilities attached to the server shown in FIGS. 5, 6,and 7. These radios are set so that they each have a unique IP address.All of the participants have either PDA cell phones or PDAs withoutcellular. Those that also have PDAs without cellular (or choose not touse cellular) are connected to their radios via a USB cable or Wi-Fi,Bluetooth, or near field communications (NFC) that is part of the PDA/PCOR PDA cell phone. This is illustrated in FIG. 9.

Referring now to FIG. 10 the diagram shows enabling non-RFID equippedPDA phones to receive RFID tag data. The server maintains a temporaryretention of how Tags relate to names and sends data to local displayand to other ACS network participants. Currently RFID tags are used formany functions, one of which is to track personnel inside a building tothe room or compartment in which they are located. This is accomplishedby RFID readers that are in each of the rooms. When personnel with anRFID tag get within a particular distance or range of the RFID reader,the reader detects their presence and sends it to a central site servervia a USB cable or Wi-Fi. The PC connected to the server displays thepersonnel room locations. With the invention described herein, theserver would then send the location to the ACS PDA/PC phones that wouldbe carried by individuals located throughout the building or ship. ThePDA/PC phones would display the room or ships compartments and thelocation of individuals with RFID tags and simultaneously enable PTT,chat, messaging, whiteboards, commands geo-fence penetration alerts orother types of messages between each of the PDA cell phones. The RFIDtag would provide room location data of all to all that are on the ACSWi-Fi network without their PDA cell phone having an RFID Readerattached to it. The operation is explained in detail in FIG. 10.

The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what isconsidered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It isrecognized, however, that departures may be made there from within thescope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to aperson skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:performing, by a first device: joining a communication networkcorresponding to a group, wherein joining the communication networkcomprises transmitting a message including an identifier correspondingto the group; participating in the group, wherein participating in thegroup includes sending first location information to a first server andreceiving second location information from the first server, the firstlocation information comprising a location of the first device, thesecond location information comprising one or more locations of one ormore respective second devices included in the group; presenting, via aninteractive display of the first device, a first interactive,georeferenced map and a first set of one or more user-selectable symbolscorresponding to a first set of one or more of the second devices,wherein the first set of symbols are positioned on the firstgeoreferenced map at respective positions corresponding to the locationsof the first set of second devices, and wherein first georeferenced mapdata relate positions on the first georeferenced map to spatialcoordinates; sending, to a second server, a request for secondgeoreferenced map data different from the first georeferenced map data;receiving, from the second server, the second georeferenced map data;presenting, via the interactive display of the first device, a secondgeoreferenced map and a second set of one or more user-selectablesymbols corresponding to a second set of one or more of the seconddevices, wherein the second set of symbols are positioned on the secondgeoreferenced map at respective positions corresponding to the locationsof the second set of second devices, and wherein the secondgeoreferenced map data relate positions on the second georeferenced mapto spatial coordinates; and identifying user interaction with theinteractive display selecting one or more of the second set ofuser-selectable symbols corresponding to one or more of the seconddevices and positioned on the second georeferenced map and userinteraction with the display specifying an action and, based thereon,sending third data to the selected one or more second devices via thefirst server.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the message istransmitted to the first server.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein thegroup comprises a plurality of group members permitted to communicatewith each other via the communication network.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein sending the third data to the selected one or more seconddevices via the first server comprises using an Internet Protocol tosend the third data to the first server.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the first device does not have access to respective InternetProtocol addresses of the one or more second devices included in thegroup.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the third data include a shortmessage service message, a text message, an image, or a video.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the video comprises a video clip.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the third data include a voice recording. 9.The method of claim 1, wherein sending the third data to the selectedone or more second devices comprises transmitting a text message to atleast one of the selected one or more second devices using an InternetProtocol (IP).
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising performingby the first device: identifying user interaction with the interactivedisplay selecting at least one of the second set of user-selectablesymbols corresponding to at least one of the second devices and userinteraction with the display specifying an action and, based thereon,initiating a phone call or phone conference with the at least one seconddevice.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing by thefirst device: identifying user interaction with the interactive displayselecting a particular user-selectable symbol corresponding to aparticular second device and user interaction with the displayspecifying an action and, based thereon, initiating voice-over-IP (VOIP)communication with the particular second device.
 12. The method of claim1, further comprising performing by the first device: identifying userinteraction with the interactive display selecting a particularuser-selectable symbol corresponding to a particular second device anduser interaction with the display specifying an action and, basedthereon, initiating a data call with the particular second device. 13.The method of claim 1, wherein the first device is a personal digitalassistant (PDA) or a personal computer (PC).
 14. The method of claim 1,wherein the first device is a smart phone.
 15. The method of claim 1,wherein the display of the first device is a touch screen display, andwherein the user interaction with the display selecting the one or moreuser-selectable symbols in the second set of symbols comprises touchingthe one or more user-selectable symbols in the second set of symbols.16. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing by the firstdevice: sending updated location information comprising an updatedlocation of the first device, the updated location information beingsent based on passage of a predetermined time interval since sendingprevious location information comprising a previous location of thefirst device, displacement of the first device by a predetermineddistance relative to a previous location of the first device, or both.17. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing by the firstdevice: using a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receiver of the firstdevice to obtain data indicative of the location of the first device,wherein sending the first location information to the first servercomprises using an Internet Protocol (IP) to send the first locationinformation to the first server.
 18. The method of claim 17, whereinsending the first location information to the first server furthercomprises sending the first location information via the Internet. 19.The method of claim 1, wherein participating in the group furtherincludes sending first status information to the first server andreceiving second status information from the first server, wherein thefirst status information comprises data indicative of a battery level ofthe first device, a signal strength of a wireless signal of the firstdevice, a status of a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receiver of thefirst device, or a combination thereof, and wherein the second statusinformation comprises data indicative of one or more battery levels ofthe respective one or more second devices included in the group, one ormore signal strengths of wireless signals of the respective one or moresecond devices included in the group, one or more statuses of GPSreceivers of the respective one or more second devices included in thegroup, or a combination thereof.
 20. The method of claim 1, wherein thesecond georeferenced map data comprise a satellite image or aerialphotograph.
 21. The method of claim 1, wherein the spatial coordinatescomprise latitude and longitude coordinates.
 22. The method of claim 1,further comprising identifying, by the first device, user interactionwith the display selecting a particular user-selectable symbolpositioned on the second georeferenced map and corresponding to aparticular second device, wherein identifying the user interactionselecting the particular user-selectable symbol comprises: detectinguser selection of a portion of the interactive display corresponding toa position on the second georeferenced map; based at least in part oncoordinates of the selected position on the second georeferenced map andon the second georeferenced map data relating positions on the secondgeoreferenced map to spatial coordinates, determining spatialcoordinates of a location represented by the selected position on thesecond georeferenced map; and identifying the particular user-selectablesymbol based, at least in part, on the spatial coordinates representedby the selected position.
 23. The method of claim 22, whereinidentifying the particular user-selectable symbol based, at least inpart, on the spatial coordinates represented by the selected positioncomprises: searching a database of entities for an entity locatednearest to the spatial coordinates represented by the selected position,wherein the entities represented by data in the database include the oneor more second devices included in the group, wherein the database datainclude locations of the respective entities, and wherein the databaseis searchable by location; and based on a result of searching thedatabase, identifying the particular second device as the entity locatednearest to the spatial coordinates represented by the selected position,wherein the particular user-selectable symbol corresponds to theparticular second device.
 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the entityis a first entity, and wherein the method further comprises performingby the first device: receiving user input via user interaction with theinteractive display of the first device, the user input specifying alocation and a symbol corresponding to a second entity other than thefirst device and the one or more second devices included in the group;and based on the user input, adding the user-specified symbol to theinteractive display at a position on the second georeferenced mapcorresponding to the user-specified location of the second entity. 25.The method of claim 24, further comprising performing by the firstdevice: transmitting the user-specified symbol and location of thesecond entity to the one or more second devices included in the groupfor addition of the user-specified symbol to respective interactivedisplays of the one or more second devices at respective positions onrespective georeferenced maps corresponding to the user-specifiedlocation of the second entity.
 26. The method of claim 25, wherein theuser input further specifies information associated with the secondentity, and wherein the method further comprises performing by the firstdevice: transmitting the user-specified information associated with thesecond entity to the one or more second devices included in the group.27. The method of claim 26, wherein the information comprises a categoryof the second entity.
 28. The method of claim 27, wherein the categorycomprises a vehicle, a person, an event, a site, a building, or afacility.
 29. The method of claim 26, wherein the information comprisesan image.
 30. The method of claim 26, wherein the information comprisesat least one type of information selected from the group consisting oftext and video.
 31. The method of claim 26, further comprisingperforming by the first device: identifying user interaction with theinteractive display selecting the symbol corresponding to the secondentity, and based thereon, displaying the information associated withthe second entity.
 32. The method of claim 31, wherein the first deviceuses an Internet Protocol to transmit the user-specified symbol,location, and information associated with the second entity.
 33. Themethod of claim 26, further comprising performing by the first device:adding data representing the spatial coordinates of the location of thesecond entity and data representing the information associated with thesecond entity to the database.
 34. The method of claim 24, wherein theportion of the interactive display is a first portion, wherein theposition of the symbol corresponding to the particular second device isa first position, and wherein receiving the user input specifying thelocation of the second entity comprises: detecting user selection of asecond portion of the interactive display corresponding to a secondposition on the second georeferenced map; and based at least in part oncoordinates of the second position on the second georeferenced map andon the second georeferenced map data relating positions on the secondgeoreferenced map to spatial coordinates, determining spatialcoordinates of a location represented by the second position on thesecond georeferenced map, wherein the location represented by the secondposition is the location of the second entity.
 35. The method of claim23, wherein the database is stored on the first device.
 36. The methodof claim 23, wherein the database is stored on the first server.
 37. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising performing by the first device:receiving user-specified information transmitted by a particular seconddevice, the user-specified information including a user-specifiedlocation and a user-specified symbol corresponding to an entity otherthan the first device and the one or more second devices included in thegroup; and adding the user-specified symbol to the interactive displayat a position on the second georeferenced map corresponding to theuser-specified location.
 38. The method of claim 37, further comprisingperforming by the first device: identifying user interaction with theinteractive display selecting the user-specified symbol corresponding tothe entity, and based thereon, displaying information associated withthe entity, wherein the user-specified information further includes theinformation associated with the entity.
 39. The method of claim 1,wherein the message including the identifier corresponding to the groupis a first message, and wherein the method further comprises performingby the first device: sending, to a particular second device via thefirst server, a second message related to remotely controlling theparticular second device to perform an action, wherein the particularsecond device is configured to perform the action based on receiving thesecond message.
 40. The method of claim 39, wherein the second messageindicates the action to be performed, and wherein the action is selectedfrom the group consisting of playing audio, initiating a phone call,vibrating, converting text to speech, changing sound intensity, anddisplaying information.
 41. The method of claim 40, wherein playingaudio comprises playing an audio message announcing an emergency. 42.The method of claim 1, wherein the message including the identifiercorresponding to the group is a first message, and wherein the methodfurther comprises performing by the first device: receiving a secondmessage sent by a particular second device, wherein the second messageindicates an action to be performed by the first device; and performingthe indicated action.
 43. The method of claim 42, wherein the indicatedaction is selected from the group consisting of playing audio,initiating a phone call, vibrating, converting text to speech, changingsound intensity, and displaying information.
 44. The method of claim 1,further comprising performing by the first device: presenting anothersymbol on the second georeferenced map corresponding to a fixed locationand associated with a telephone number; and receiving user selection ofthe other symbol and, based thereon, initiating a telephone call to thetelephone number associated with the symbol.
 45. The method of claim 1,further comprising performing, by the first device: presenting a symbolcorresponding to a facility, wherein the facility is selected from thegroup consisting of a hospital, a police station, and a fire station,and wherein the symbol corresponding to the facility is positioned onthe second georeferenced map at a position corresponding to a locationof the facility.
 46. The method of claim 45, further comprisingperforming, by the first device: identifying user interaction with theinteractive display selecting the symbol corresponding to the facility,and based thereon, displaying information associated with the facility.47. The method of claim 46, wherein the information associated with thefacility comprises a uniform resource locator (URL) of a web siteassociated with the facility.
 48. The method of claim 45, furthercomprising performing, by the first device: identifying user interactionwith the interactive display selecting the symbol corresponding to thefacility and user interaction with the display specifying an action, andbased thereon, loading a web page associated with the facility.
 49. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising performing by the first device:identifying user interaction with the interactive display selecting asubset of the user-selectable symbols corresponding to a subset of theone or more second devices included in the group; and identifying userinteraction with the interactive display specifying an action and, basedthereon, assigning the subset of second devices to a sub-net.
 50. Themethod of claim 49, further comprising performing by the first device:identifying user interaction with the interactive display selecting thesub-net and user interaction with the display specifying an action; andbased thereon, sending fourth data to the subset of second devices viathe first server or initiating a phone conference with the subset ofsecond devices.
 51. The method of claim 1, wherein the first server isthe second server.
 52. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set ofsecond devices and the second set of second devices are identical. 53.The method of claim 1, wherein the message further includes anidentifier corresponding to the first device.
 54. A system comprising: afirst device programmed to perform operations comprising: joining acommunication network corresponding to a group, wherein joining thecommunication network comprises transmitting a message including anidentifier corresponding to the group; participating in the group,wherein participating in the group includes sending first locationinformation to a first server and receiving second location informationfrom the first server, the first location information comprising alocation of the first device, the second location information comprisingone or more locations of one or more respective second devices includedin the group; presenting, via an interactive display of the firstdevice, a first interactive, georeferenced map and a first set of one ormore user-selectable symbols corresponding to a first set of one or moreof the second devices, wherein the first set of symbols are positionedon the first georeferenced map at respective positions corresponding tothe locations of the first set of second devices, and wherein firstgeoreferenced map data relate positions on the first georeferenced mapto spatial coordinates; sending, to a second server, a request forsecond georeferenced map data different from the first georeferenced mapdata; receiving, from the second server, the second georeferenced mapdata; presenting, via the interactive display of the first device, asecond georeferenced map and a second set of one or more user-selectablesymbols corresponding to a second set of one or more of the seconddevices, wherein the second set of symbols are positioned on the secondgeoreferenced map at respective positions corresponding to the locationsof the second set of second devices, and wherein the secondgeoreferenced map data relate positions on the second georeferenced mapto spatial coordinates; and identifying user interaction with theinteractive display selecting one or more of the second set ofuser-selectable symbols corresponding to one or more of the seconddevices and positioned on the second georeferenced map and userinteraction with the display specifying an action and, based thereon,sending third data to the selected one or more second devices via thefirst server.
 55. A computer-implemented method comprising: performing,by a server: receiving, from a first device, a message including anidentifier corresponding to a group; permitting the first device to joina communication network corresponding to the group, wherein permittingthe first device to join the communication network comprises: receivingfirst location information from the first device, the first locationinformation comprising a location of the first device, sending the firstlocation information to one or more second devices included in thegroup, receiving second location information from the one or more seconddevices, the second location information comprising one or morelocations of the respective one or more second devices, and sending thesecond location information to the first device, wherein the firstdevice is configured to present, via an interactive display of the firstdevice, a first interactive, georeferenced map and a first set of one ormore user-selectable symbols corresponding to a first set of one or moreof the second devices, wherein the first set of symbols are positionedon the first georeferenced map at respective positions corresponding tothe locations of the first set of second devices, and wherein firstgeoreferenced map data relate positions on the first georeferenced mapto spatial coordinates; receiving, from the first device, a request forsecond georeferenced map data different from the first georeferenced mapdata; sending, to the first device, the second georeferenced map data,wherein the first device is configured to present, via the interactivedisplay of the first device, a second georeferenced map and a second setof one or more user-selectable symbols corresponding to a second set ofone or more of the second devices, wherein the second set of symbols arepositioned on the second georeferenced map at respective positionscorresponding to the locations of the second set of second devices, andwherein the second georeferenced map data relate positions on the secondgeoreferenced map to spatial coordinates; receiving, from the firstdevice, (1) third data, and (2) fourth data indicating user selection ofone or more of the second set of user-selectable symbols correspondingto one or more of the second devices; and based on receiving the thirddata and the fourth data, sending the third data to the selected one ormore second devices.
 56. The method of claim 55, wherein sending thefirst location information to the one or more second devices included inthe group comprises pushing the first location information to the one ormore second devices.
 57. The method of claim 55, wherein an InternetProtocol (IP) address of the server is accessible to the first deviceand the one or more second devices.
 58. The method of claim 57, furthercomprising performing by the server: storing an IP address of the firstdevice; receiving, from a particular second device, a request to sendfifth data to the first device, wherein the request to send the fifthdata to the first device identifies the first device using an identifiercorresponding to the first device; and sending the fifth data to thefirst device in a message addressed to the stored IP address of thefirst device.
 59. The method of claim 55, wherein the group comprises aplurality of group members permitted to communicate with each other viathe communication network.
 60. The method of claim 55, wherein receivingthe third data from the first device comprises using an InternetProtocol to receive the third data to the first device.
 61. The methodof claim 55, wherein the third data include a short message servicemessage, a text message, an image, or a video.
 62. The method of claim61, wherein the video comprises a video clip.
 63. The method of claim61, wherein the third data include a voice recording.
 64. The method ofclaim 55, wherein sending the third data to the selected one or moresecond devices comprises transmitting a text message to at least one ofthe selected one or more second devices using an Internet Protocol (IP).65. The method of claim 55, further comprising performing by the server:receiving, from the first device, fifth data indicating user selectionof at least one symbol in the second set of user-selectable symbolscorresponding to at least one of the second devices; and based onreceiving the fifth data, initiating voice-over-IP (VOIP) communicationbetween the first device and the at least one second device.
 66. Themethod of claim 1, wherein receiving the first location information fromthe first device comprises using an Internet Protocol (IP) to receivethe first location information from the first device.
 67. The method ofclaim 66, wherein receiving the first location information from thefirst device further comprises receiving the first location informationvia the Internet.
 68. The method of claim 55, wherein permitting thefirst device to join the communication network further comprises:receiving first status information from the first device and sendingsecond status information to the first device, wherein the first statusinformation comprises data indicative of a battery level of the firstdevice, a signal strength of a wireless signal of the first device, astatus of a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receiver of the firstdevice, or a combination thereof, and wherein the second statusinformation comprises data indicative of one or more battery levels ofthe respective one or more second devices included in the group, one ormore signal strengths of wireless signals of the respective one or moresecond devices included in the group, one or more statuses of GPSreceivers of the respective one or more second devices included in thegroup, or a combination thereof.
 69. The method of claim 55, wherein thesecond georeferenced map data comprise a satellite image or aerialphotograph.
 70. The method of claim 55, wherein the spatial coordinatescomprise latitude and longitude coordinates.
 71. The method of claim 55,further comprising performing by the server: receiving, from the firstdevice, fifth data comprising a user-specified location and auser-specified symbol corresponding to an entity other than the firstdevice and the one or more second devices included in the group; basedon receiving the fifth data, transmitting the user-specified symbol andlocation of the entity to the one or more second devices included in thegroup for addition of the user-specified symbol to respectiveinteractive displays of the one or more second devices at respectivepositions on respective georeferenced maps corresponding to theuser-specified location of the entity.
 72. The method of claim 71,wherein the fifth data further comprises user-specified informationassociated with the entity, and wherein the method further comprisesperforming by the server: based on receiving the fifth data,transmitting the user-specified information associated with the entityto the one or more second devices included in the group.
 73. The methodof claim 72, wherein the information comprises a category of the secondentity.
 74. The method of claim 73, wherein the category comprises avehicle, a person, an event, a site, a building, or a facility.
 75. Themethod of claim 72, wherein the information comprises an image.
 76. Themethod of claim 72, wherein the information comprises at least one typeof information selected from the group consisting of text and video. 77.The method of claim 72, wherein the first device uses an InternetProtocol to transmit the user-specified symbol, location, andinformation associated with the entity.
 78. The method of claim 71,further comprising performing by the server: adding data representingspatial coordinates of the location of the entity and data representingthe information associated with the entity to a database.
 79. The methodof claim 1, wherein the message including the identifier correspondingto the group is a first message, and wherein the method furthercomprises performing by the server: receiving, from the first device, asecond message related to remotely controlling a particular seconddevice to perform an action; and after receiving the second message,sending, to the particular second device, a third message related toremotely controlling the particular second device to perform the action,wherein the particular second device is configured to perform the actionbased on receiving the third message.
 80. The method of claim 79,wherein the second message indicates the action to be performed, andwherein the action is selected from the group consisting of playingaudio, initiating a phone call, vibrating, converting text to speech,changing sound intensity, and displaying information.
 81. The method ofclaim 80, wherein playing audio comprises playing an audio messageannouncing an emergency.
 82. The method of claim 55, wherein the firstset of second devices and the second set of second devices areidentical.
 83. The method of claim 55, wherein the message furtherincludes an identifier corresponding to the first device.
 84. A systemcomprising: one or more servers programmed to perform operationscomprising: receiving, from a first device, a message including anidentifier corresponding to a group; permitting the first device to joina communication network corresponding to the group, wherein permittingthe first device to join the communication network comprises: receivingfirst location information from the first device, the first locationinformation comprising a location of the first device, sending the firstlocation information to one or more second devices included in thegroup, receiving second location information from the one or more seconddevices, the second location information comprising one or morelocations of the respective one or more second devices, and sending thesecond location information to the first device, wherein the firstdevice is configured to present, via an interactive display of the firstdevice, a first interactive, georeferenced map and a first set of one ormore user-selectable symbols corresponding to a first set of one or moreof the second devices, wherein the first set of symbols are positionedon the first georeferenced map at respective positions corresponding tothe locations of the first set of second devices, and wherein firstgeoreferenced map data relate positions on the first georeferenced mapto spatial coordinates; receiving, from the first device, a request forsecond georeferenced map data different from the first georeferenced mapdata; sending, to the first device, the second georeferenced map data,wherein the first device is configured to present, via the interactivedisplay of the first device, a second georeferenced map and a second setof one or more user-selectable symbols corresponding to a second set ofone or more of the second devices, wherein the second set of symbols arepositioned on the second georeferenced map at respective positionscorresponding to the locations of the second set of second devices, andwherein the second georeferenced map data relate positions on the secondgeoreferenced map to spatial coordinates; receiving, from the firstdevice, (1) third data, and (2) fourth data indicating user selection ofone or more of the second set of user-selectable symbols correspondingto one or more of the second devices; and based on receiving the thirddata and the fourth data, sending the third data to the selected one ormore second devices.